Natural History Society of Mauritius. 141 



at the Mauritius, and that he was in possession of specimens i 

 taken alive upon the shore at Quatre Cocos, has also described t 

 a new species of this genus, which he named R. Cristata. I 



ENTOMOLOGY. 



The order Neurop'era contains very few genera, or even spe- 

 cies, when compared with the other orders of insects ; but these 

 species are numerous in individuals, being more widely distri- 

 buted in the different regions of the Globe. Every one is 

 familiar with the large long-bodied insects with four wings like 

 gauze, and a large I'oimd head, which pass a long portion of 

 their life in the water, in the state of a larva, having the form 

 and aspect of the long-tailed six-footed Crustacea. This has 

 led the negroes to confound them with Crawfish, among which 

 they are always found, and has produced the name Mavian 

 Chevrettes. Having escaped from this coriaceous covering, we 

 find them circling through the air, accompanying their move- 

 ments with a slight rustling noise. These are the Libellulae or 

 Demoiselles, known in the different districts of the island under 

 the quaint names of Saint Denis, Serandane, Bus de soie, 

 and tic tic. Among about a dozen of species, there are three \ 



which Mr. J. Desjardins has described as new, and named \ 



them — L. Limbata, L. Sejni hyalina, L. Bimaculata. ■ 



The Report remarks, in a note, that the mountam of Pieter 

 Both derived its name from Pieter Both, of Amersfort, who 

 held a leading station among the early Dutch voyagers in the 

 Southern Hemisphere. Having in 1616 under his command 

 four richly laden vessels returning to Holland he was wrecked 

 on the rocks of the Mauritius, and perished along with his 

 wealth. The name has undergone many transformations in the 

 hands 'of different authors, as Peter Boat, Peter Butt's head^ 

 Peter Boot, Petre Bord, Piton du bras. Petit Boic, &c. It 

 was successfully ascended by Captain A, Lloyd on the 8th 

 September, just 42 years after the enterprize of Claude Penthe. 



- - -^ 



■J 



Extracts from a Letter addressed hy Captain Ross, on his 



return from the Polar Expedition, to the Secretary of 



the Admiralty. ■ -. 



" We found the boats, provisions, &c." of the Fury, " in excellent 

 condition, but no vestige of the wreck. After completing in fuel 

 and other necessaries, we sailed on the 14th, and on the follow- 

 ing morning rounded Cape Garry, where our new discoveries 

 commenced, and keeping the western shore close on board, ran 

 down the coast in a S.W. and W. course, in from 10 to 20 

 liithoms, until we had passed the latitude of 72 N,, in longitudef' 

 94 W.; here we found a considerable inlet leading to the west-i 



